I told Duncan he could leave on his "aquarium" last night while he fell asleep. This is how I found him. Think he's close enough? He was totally and completely asleep.

When Three Year Olds Get Your Camera II

 

 

 

Sick Finn

 

Finn has a terrible virus, and looks so pathetic and cute. I feel so bad for him!

When three year olds get your camera...

 

 

 

 

I think he did a pretty good job!

Three Kids

So, now I'm a mom to three kids. Right now, in the trenches of not sleeping through the nightness, it does not seem so peachy. Someone always needs something. From me. From the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning, someone needs something. A bottle, soothing, chocolate milk (but only in the blue Elmo cup! Just the blue one!), a snack, a diaper, more soothing. Sometimes I can feel myself losing patience and wanting to run out the door and leave all three of my little needy wee beasties with their dad.

But I don't. Because of the grace of God, I am able to be grateful for these wonderful, beautiful, healthy children. I am able to stop and remember what we went through to become parents, only to lose all hope, then to have it restored again and to be blessed with Duncan...then Claire and Finn. I am able to tap into a source of energy and get through each day, one at a time.

And there are lots of very funny moments.

Today's was Duncan, going to pee in the potty by himself, coming back out in his Thomas underwear with some of his parts sticking out of the bottom front. He needs to work on the pulling up part, but is getting there. I told him to "fix himself" and made the grievous error of laughing. My all-boy boy then realized how funny this was and continued to walk around with his parts dangling.

Claire and Finn are starting to smile, coo and talk. I'd almost forgotten how magical that is.

The sleep thing? Still sucks. Claire shows promise, but Finn is tough. I have to come up with a plan or I'll go nuts. Of course, getting them out of the dining room is probably a good place to start! As soon as Iain gets his home office moved to the garage, we will get right on that. We will move Duncan and all his toys, little table and chairs, and train table to the big bedroom (Iain's office) and will put both babies in the smaller, Duncan's former, bedroom.

Merry Christmas!

 

Big morning around here. Plenty of candy and cookies have already been consumed, a ride around the block in a new race car and watching the ol' Yule Log on TV. Good times and God bless.

Iain, Christie, Duncan, Claire and Finn

Christmas '08

 

 

 

Getting ready for Wednesday night church is not so easy anymore, but I did manage to get Finn and Claire (or Fair and Clinn as I call them half the time...why?) in cute outfits, hats and socks. Might be the only time!

Duncan then had his preschool sing along on Thursday...pretty hilarious and cute. Love that stuff and am a total sucker for it. What would we do if they all behaved perfectly? Be sorely disappointed.

Today has been pretty good. Duncan and Iain have raked lots of leaves, and the babies and I have kind of cocooned indoors. It's not been half as bad as I thought it would to be home with all of them all day long...as long as Daddy's here too.

thanksgiving weekend

 

 

 

 

typing one handed, feeding claire in middle of night so no great post...not that they ever are.

d's party at school, family pics, etc...

 
 
 
 


Big brother Duncan had a soccer game yesterday, not that he actually plays, but it's fun for him! He is doing great, but is really demanding more attention. He does love "his" babies, though. So much that I caught him licking them.

We are on our own at this point and need to figure out how we'll work it out. Last night we tried shifts, with me sleeping from midnight to three, and Iain sleeping from thee to six. My only issue is when it's time for me to pump, what do I do when both babies decide they are hungry? That is what happened last night. I put off pumping, had one baby on one knee and the other propped up on a pillow beside me and with one bottle, alternated between them (yes, I let them share bottles...Mommy of the Year!). It wasn't bad, but I don't know how much I can do that. I am thinking that if I can get up my supply, my only goal will be to pump enough milk to give them SOME breast milk every day, and not try to feed them exclusively EBM. I am taking this "tincture" called More Milk Plus. Egad it's gruesome stuff. I can dilute it in one ounce of juice to get it down but it still tastes like old, wet moldy grass. Happy times!

I will get pics of Finn, too. I promise.

Halloween

 

I actually got a Halloween picture, and Duncan actually had a costume. Success! He had a great time trick or treating with his dad.

Too tired to post much else, but will soon.

35 Weeks

Baby A (girl) weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Baby B weighs 5 pounds, 4 ounces. Already twice as much baby in me as I had with Duncan at the time of his birth, and I am feeling every ounce of it. Lots of pressure, back ache, kicks, and discomfort but really nothing too terrible in comparison to what some women go through with twins.

We are on baby alert! Could be any day. Could be Nov. 7th.

I feel like a real parent!

I got my first call from a teacher/school. Well, my mom picked up Duncan from preschool today and he was sitting in the "naughty chair" (not sure if that's my mom's expression or the school's.) Apparently, shockingly enough, he does not always follow directions and is disruptive during nap/quiet time.

Sigh.

Yes, a three year old boy is disruptive during quiet time. According to my mom, the teacher said she became "angry" with him and when that did not appear to make a dent, she took him to the director's office. Something, I have a feeling, Duncan met with glee. An adventure!

So, I called the director and got the low down. Nothing too shocking, just that often/sometimes/frequently (I'm still not sure which) does not follow their instruction and on at least two occasions has not been quiet during quiet time. He runs around, tumbles, etc...

It's almost as if now the real parenting kicks in. I've just been keeping him alive up to this point. Iain and I talked about it and we are going to talk to his teachers and the director about what we believe works best with him (Love and Logic, basically) and hope to see some improvement.

Whee!! Just in time for twins!!

First Hockey Game

 


Duncan and Iain have gone to the Stars game, Duncan's first real hockey experience. I am home gestating and grateful for the peace and quiet.

I'm just large and tired and achy. No other way to put it. I was 34 weeks last Thursday, and so far everything is just fine. I don't think I'll make it to 37 weeks but we shall see. Selfishly, I am considering doing anything I can to bring on labor in about a week or so! I am really, really ready to be done. I have biophysical profiles of both babies on Wednesday and we will see how much they weigh. 10 days ago they were 4.5 pounds each.

I am in full-blown panic and nesting mode, which makes me really fun to live with! I just might give away everything we own in order to make room for more baby stuff. Even trying to keep in to a minimum, it's going to be a lot, and our house is very tiny!

We have hired someone to help us overnight for the first three weeks and I am really excited about that.

Too tired to type.

Must go lie down.

Almost 32 weeks

And starting to feel kind of miserable. I've got quite a bit of discomfort from the diastasis and my heartburn is getting worse. What else can I complain about? I have not shaved my legs in days simply because I cannot. The only pants I can wear are leggings. My maternity underwear are too small. The last bra I bought has five hooks. I think I am getting a cold.

That should do it.

Gratefully, I have lots of people stepping up to the plate to help. My mom comes about once a week to help me "pick up" as we say in Texas. I have Irma come every two weeks to really clean my house. My great friend Diana comes to help me clean out closets and drawers. I do not know what I would do without her!

Iain will be traveling alot these next few weeks, so Duncan and I will go to my mom's and sister's alot. I really can't do much for myself, and as much as I'd rather stay home and "sleep" (read: toss and turn) in my own bed I think it's best.

See my OB tomorrow and hope everything is still pretty secure in there.

OB Update

I saw my OB today. I'm not yet 31 weeks, but my belly is measuring 42 weeks. She was surprised at how large I was. (No comment). Both babies were on one side, so my tummy looked a bit like a ski slope. We re-evaluated my due date and c-section currently scheduled for November 7th, at 37 weeks. She seems to be questioning if I will make it that far. Her goal for me now is 34 weeks. She explained that my body might just decide it is done and go into labor, and that we need to be prepared (but not neccesarily plan) for that to happen. So far, there are no physical signs of any early labor but she stressed that with twins things can change quickly. She also encouraged me to limit my activity (normal) to about 4-5 hours a day. I'll see her every week and she will re-evaluate.

30 weeks, 3 days

 

Must get hair highlighted. And remember to always wear lipstick.

Almost 29 weeks

On Thursday, I will be 29 weeks. Tomorrow I see my OB and my Peri and am curious to find out how big I measure, and how much these babies weigh. I am guessing 12 or 13 pounds each. No, seriously, probably only 9 or 10 each. Sigh. Yesterday in church I swear I had feet between my boobs.

I can still do most things for myself, as long as it does not involve picking anything up off the floor, or reaching any lower than my rib cage. Like, shaving my legs or painting my toes. I sleep okay, but darling husband has been on the couch for weeks due to my snoring. Flipping from side to side involves about a two minute break on my back, where I feel a bit like a stranded sea turtle, before heaving myself over to the other side, where I am comfortable for about an hour before I have to do the whole heave-ho again.

The weather has been nice, which has been a real blessing. Our over 100 degree days, I think, are gone. We now hover in the 90's which is not nearly as bad. I look very forward to the 70's however. Maybe by Thanksgiving!!! Ah, Texas.

More tomorrow, after I see both docs.

 
 
 
 


I am officially a soccer mom. Duncan started practice last night for a 3 year-old boys' team, The Gunners. Coaches are husbands of two of my closest friends and at least three of his team mates are buddies. It was hopelessly cute. It did seem strange that you could see the "Cars" pullup through the white soccer shorts, but whatever. And, that his shorts come to his knees and with the white shin-guard sock combo he looks like a big tampon. It was cute! And I loved it.

Glee

Those of you with boys will probably appreciate the level of glee we had around our house when we came home today. This is the view from our living room window.


We are really into tractors. I mean, really, really into them. We have toy tractors, we watch tractor videos, we tell tractor stories, we have tractor books, Duncan and his dad walk down to the end of our street where they are doing construction just about every day to see the tractors, but we have never had one right in front of our house, like he is coming to dinner.

As far as my glee, I am finally getting the inside of my house painted! We have one large living space that previously was four different colors...macadamia, torchlight, some other darker toffee color I can't name, and clay tile in my kitchen. It looked kind of like a Starbucks. Now the whole space is "homemade biscuit" which is much nicer, brighter and cleaner. I'm a happy camper.

Onward and upward.

Christie

OhmygoshOhmygoshHelpMeJesusINeedASwingset

I fear, that today, is the beginning of a slippery slope of no nap. Perhaps I am rushing to judgment. But, it is 3:45 and Duncan is bouncing around the house.

We do have a house painter here, to paint the entire interior (yippee!) and I am sure that adds to his excitement. But I gave up. I tried everything. The last time I checked on him, he was doing somersaults on the bed. So, I give up. What will tonight be like? A nice easy bedtime? Or a walk to Hell?

I love the afternoon nap. It gives me a chance to have a little time to myself. I usually don't sleep, but I can do a few things that I would not otherwise. One of my greatest shortcomings as a mom is not feeling like I have to entertain my kid all the time. When he's awake, it seems impossible for me to just do what I need to do and let him occupy himself. He's not that kind of kid, and I'm a pushover. So, we are the perfect storm. I will truly welcome cooler days when he can just play in the backyard. That reminds me, I must find a swingset.

 
 
 

Me (22 weeks) and great friend Marjorie, also pregnant with twins, (28 weeks). She's having two girls. Our husbands became friends while at UT getting their MBA's, and are also great friends. They also have Grant, who is almost 4 and a good friend to Duncan.

More party pics